Lying to Myself
by Emetelai
Summary: James wanted Lily that week. Until he realized she didn't want him. Now he wants her even more. Lily HATES James. Or wait...does she? Chapter 3 up!
1. 15

**Lying to Myself**

Chapter 1: 15

_Authors Note_: Just establishing facts here. Sorry if it's not ultra dramatic yet. May sound cheesy, but a lot of it comes from personal experiences.

* * *

It was Lily Evans 5th year. She had dark red shoulder-length hair and almond shaped green eyes with a light complexion. Her best friend, Molly Burns, also had red hair, albeit of a slightly lighter complexion with brown eyes. Her other best friend, Hannah Finnigan, had green eyes, but she had brown hair. Their final roommate, Amy Moore, had brown hair and narrow brown eyes with a tanner complexion.

It was their first night back at Hogwarts and the usual feast had just appeared.

"I can't wait to see what the boys do this year…" Amy whispered conspiratorially as she nodded quickly at the Marauders.

"Probably will make more jackasses of themselves," Molly scoffed. Lily laughed.

Hannah smiled knowingly,

"They're brilliant though. If I were that smart, I'd take school as lightly as they do."

"They're cheating somehow," Molly frowned, stuffing some potatoes in her mouth.

"I wish I had that lifestyle…" Amy sighed.

"You mean you wish you had one of them!" Lily teased.

"That too," Amy grinned.

The marauders were a group of three boys, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter, who were especially arrogant of their wizarding abilities. They especially enjoyed taunting those less fortunate than themselves. They pulled pranks for fun (because they could) and disobeyed authority.

In Lily's opinion, they were scoundrels.

James Potter was the worst. He was arrogant and haughty. He attracted women like food attracted flies. He was currently the Gryffindor chaser, but he aspired to be the seeker. The position currently filled by Amos Diggory. He apparently hated being groomed, because his hair never stayed flat in the back. He had hazel eyes, dark hair and a thin face with a steady build.

Sirius Black was attractive. And he knew it. Sirius was the honey to Hogwarts Queen Bees. He was even less compassionate than James, if that was possible. He made fun of others mercilessly and liked to crack jokes. No one took him seriously. His black hair hung naturally and elegantly in front of his forehead and eyes. He had dark eyes and a large grin.

Remus was very intelligent. He was also the most compassionate of the four, but he was also as mischievous as the others. He had a natural curiosity for trouble and assisted the others. Were it not for sandy haired and blue eyed Remus, Lily was sure James, Sirius and Peter would have been kicked out of Hogwarts by now.

Peter admired James. Every thing he did and said. He wouldn't leave the three alone, so after a while, they included him. Though Lily felt sorry for him because they often used him to do their dirty work.

There were the usual cliques at Hogwarts. Lily's group, somehow fell partly into the attractive girls group. They were always being asked out. Lily always said yes to be polite, but most often refused them the second time around. That rarely happened though. Boys tended to stop coming around if she refused to show affection the first date.

The marauders were leaders and prats. Rich kids. Narcissa and Regulus Black (Sirius' sister and brother), Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape were the Slytherin lowlifes. They favored pureblood in Hogwarts still and used their free speech to make it known. Severus mostly kept to himself. He was a suspicious character. Lucius, Regulus and Narcissa sneered at anyone they considered below them. And that was usually everyone.

Amos was a sports fanatic. When he wasn't talking about sports, though, he was hanging around girls. Lily thought he was smart. He had more girl friends than boy friends. Much to Amy's delight, he moved to sit with them.

"Hi girls!" Amos waved, sitting next to them, "How are you lovely ladies doing tonight?"

Molly laughed and Amy giggled.

"Good, thanks!" Hannah grinned, "How was your summer Amos?"

"It was great. You know, the usual job and everything."

He took a seat next to Amy and half-hugged her before taking some food.

"Molly!" A gangly looking brown haired boy with glasses waved down the table. Molly waved back, grinning merrily.

A loud explosion suddenly caused all their heads to jerk.

Sirius Black had taken a soda, shaken it and caused it to spill all over James, who'd been sitting next to him. James arms were out, his mouth open with a mischievous smile while Sirius laughed hysterically. Remus shook his head for a moment until regular talk started up throughout the great hall. Just another marauder moment.

* * *

As Lily, Molly, Amy and Hannah made their way down the great hall with everyone else, Lily happened to glance curiously at the four boys and see James and Sirius grinning a little too much in her direction. She suddenly felt a little queasy.

Not more than 20 minutes had passed before Hannah had enshrined her bed with photos of a boy their age with blue eyes and dark brown hair.

"Are you STILL in love with that muggle?" Molly looked on disdainfully, "Really girl. You know it will never work out."

Molly was a very practical person. She just didn't put up with fantasies or pranks. Hence, her apprehension for the marauders. It was quite funny though because Arthur Weasley, who was absolutely enthralled with muggles (he really liked to be around Lily) really fancied Molly. Except Molly didn't know it. She just thought Arthur was a "very kind friend".

"Oh, but it will!" Hannah clasped her hands together dreamily.

"How's that?" Lily asked.

"I just won't tell him," Hannah stated.

The other three laughed and her face fell slightly.

"Oh Hannah!" Amy gave her a hug, "Don't worry. You'll be happy in the end, no matter who you end up with."

Hannah broke apart and whispered, "I guess. I love him so much though. I can't stand the thought of being with someone else."

Lily climbed into bed, exhausted. She didn't like the marauders noticing her tonight. They always created trouble. Was she afraid of them?

* * *

"Did you see the glares Narcissa and Regulus sent you throughout dinner?" Remus asked Sirius cautiously.

"They're always like that," Sirius grimaced, spitting hard into the sink from the bathroom.

"Gawd, I'm glad to get away from my family too," James collapsed on his bed, "All summer, it was 'Oh James dear. I wish you'd wear a suit around the house more often' or 'Son, you should chop off your hair. It's abominable.' They even told me 'a man ought to marry before he's 20 or he'll be a disgrace to society'."

He ruffled his hair as much as he could then mumbled with a little grin,

"Oh, but it was a great pleasure making them mad with my unruly manners."

Peter laughed a little too loudly, then added,

"Yeah, I hate my family too."

"Why?" Remus asked.

Peter frowned, caught off guard.

"Um….because I do."

"Hmm." Remus looked away.

"How was your summer my hairy friend?" James asked curiously, half jokingly and half serious.

"Well…." Remus looked a little hesitant, then plunged, "I howled at the moon, tore all my clothes, ate some disgusting medicine and ripped apart some animals and trees."

"Golly, what an adventure!" Sirius bounced onto his bed.

"I should have invited you to my house!" James laughed. "My parents would have _loved you._"

"Mine really would have," Sirius added seriously.

"Why?" Peter asked with a confused expression.

"Never mind," Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Yo Sirius!" James sat up on his bed, "Did you see Evans?"

Sirius whistled, his eyes sparkling.

"Didn't you? I thought Moore and Finnigan were smoking too."

"I'm a little partial to Courtney Boggs," Remus joined in, grinning.

"My man!" Sirius bear hugged him, "Go for it."

"Yep," James got into bed, ripping his shirt off and throwing it onto the floor, "Another new year has definitely begun."

"And we're all so mature for it," Remus laughed, turning off the light.

* * *

Are you ready? ;) 


	2. He Wants Sex!

**Lying to Myself**

Chapter 2: He wants sex!

_Authors Note_: Um…the titles not what you think. lol. I upped the rating already for…obvious reasons.

* * *

The next morning Lily walked with Amy to her first class, Charms.

As she entered the room, she happened to pass by the Marauders. James held her eye contact for a moment and said "Hi Evans" as she passed. As if he was doing her a grand favor by noticing her.

She didn't have time to respond, but immediately thoughts started racing in her mind.

"Lucky pigl!" Amy whispered excitedly in her ear, "James Potter said hi to _you!"_

"Why?" Lily frowned, whispering back, "I didn't say anything to them."

"I know!" Amy grinned.

This just confused Lily further.

As she sat down, she saw him turn and grin at her cheekily. Slowly, carefully, she leaned in to Amy and whispered,

"I—Do you think it's possible that---oh heavens no."

"What?" Amy asked.

"Do you think he's hitting on me?"

Amy turned and saw James glance back again at Lily. This time he winked for her to see.

She turned back to Lily, stunned.

"Absolutely."

"Great."

"Is that a good great or bad "oh no" great?"

"If _James Potter_ is suddenly hitting on me, why do you suppose that'd be?" Lily asked pointedly.

"There's an answer to this question right?" Amy asked cautiously.

Lily nodded.

"Um….he likes you? He wants you to notice him? He….has a new goal in life?" Amy would've kept guessing if Lily hadn't cut her off then,

"He wants _sex_!"

Amy laughed out loud, but put her hand back over her mouth when Flitwick scorned in her direction.

Lily scowled.

"Sorry Lils," Amy turned red, "It just sounded, well, _forward."_

"Well!" Lily practically brought her voice above a whisper. "You've heard about all his _other _girls! Amy, why is he _suddenly _noticing me? Surely it's not for my intelligence or friendship."

"Oh heck no."

"Usually guys like that like girls like me for only one reason: they're interested in the end result."

"You mean sex?" Amy raised an eyebrow.

"No—yes!"

"So because James Potter is flirting with you he wants to have sex with you?"

"Right."

"But Amos flirts with you. And you don't ever think it's cause of sex. You've allowed yourself to go out with several strange boys before. They didn't know you then."

"Yes, but I didn't know them either…"

"And that's SO much safer," Amy rolled her eyes.

"I'm just saying I _know_ what a guy like James is interested in."

"No you don't."

"Of course I do!"

"Well, why don't we ask him then….?" Amy moved to get up but Lily dragged her back down,

"Are you crazy!" Lily asked hysterically. When everyone else reached for their wands, she robotically picked hers up too. Then she stopped momentarily and watched everyone else practicing spells.

"Did you hear Flitwick give the instructions?"

"No," Amy looked around, "I was listening to you talk about sex."

"I think they're saying 'Teendarium Fartiosa'?"

"No. I haven't heard that one before."

"Oh! That must be 'Wingardium Leviosa'."

Lily's notebook popped off the desk,

"Now as I was saying before…"

"James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, scandalous marauders, don't ever like a girl for her personality or looks. In your, cough very straightforward way, they're only looking for the sex," Amy monotonously repeated.

"Exactly!" Lily turned back to her floating notebook proudly.

A loud poof broke the drone of voices. Lily coughed and wiped away the clouds in front of her desk to find that her floating notebook had turned into red lilies. She snapped her head up and saw James grinning at her. She snarled at him, eyes narrowing. His eyebrows shot up in surprise.

It was his arrogance, his attitude of smugness that got to her. The very thought that he thought she was falling for him like every other dumb girl in the school that made her want to puke in his face.

"Oh, I _hate him!_" Lily seethed aloud, clenching her fists.

"For a bunch of _flowers?_" Amy took them in her hands and smelled them then looked at Lily incredulously, "Girl---what have you been smoking lately?"

"Nothing! Amy-I don't want him to like me!" Lily responded a little hysterically. "I hate him! I hate the marauders! They are everything I despise! And I don't want to be their friend either so don't you dare suggest it!"

"You'd be so corrupted," Amy laughed.

"This isn't funny." Lily frowned, "His attention makes me feel _very_ uncomfortable. I need you to help me. I don't want him around stalking me."

"He won't Lily!" Amy smiled, "Once he knows you aren't interested, he'll move on. Trust me."

"Good," Lily felt a little more comforted. "You understand though, right?"

"I do," Amy nodded. She hugged Lily quickly, "I got your back. I won't let James get near you."

* * *

"Hey Evans! Whatcha doing?"

Lily jumped sharply as _his_ head appeared next to hers.

"You're in my personal space."

"And that's bad how?"

_Just IGNORE _him, she tried to think rationally. For a few more seconds, he lingered near her face till she reached up and swatted him away angrily. He just laughed.

"Did you like the lilies?"

Lily wanted him to leave so much. She chose to continue ignoring him, but found white circles appearing where she was trying to read her homework.

James Potter swayed near her for a few minutes and then abruptly sat next to her, facing his body in her general direction.

"I didn't say you could sit down," Lily's eyes narrowed, finally turning to face him.

"It's the Great Hall. I can sit where I want. Right now I want to sit right here."

"I don't want to talk to you."

"That's fine. I'll just sit quietly."

"And stalk me out?" Lily gathered her books together to stand up, "No thank you."

"Wait!" James stood when she did, "I wasn't trying to be rude. I was trying to make conversation."

"Yes, I see that," Lily rolled her eyes.

"Let me start again!" He held out his hand to introduce himself. She looked from his hand to his face. Slowly, reluctantly, she took it, thinking she'd have to wash her hands well later. _Who knows where this things been!_

"Good morning ma'am. Ma name is James. James Potter. What say ye we get to know each other a little better?" He winked…..once again.

Lily dropped his hand as if it'd caught fire. He was such a…a….GUY!

"No thank you!" She whirled on her feet and headed for the door.

"Oh c'mon!" He yelled at her retreating back.

"I'd rather die," Lily spat out to no one in particular.

* * *

"You failed."

"What are you talking about?" Amy looked astonishingly confused.

"James! He tried to seduce me this afternoon," Lily groaned, "You weren't there to stop him. It was horrible."

Hannah smiled,

"Just enjoy his affections Lily. He'll probably stop by the end of this week."

Lily looked over at the plotting marauders and gulped, downing some milk.

"I hope so. He's giving me a headache."

"Who is?" Amos wrapped his arms around Lily and Molly, appearing suddenly. Molly shrugged him off.

"James," Amy answered, "He's decided to focus his womanizing affections on Lily for some reason and she doesn't like it. She doesn't like him."

"Do you like him?" Amos asked.

"No. He's funny sometimes of course."

"But he's a jerk," Lily scowled.

Amy, Molly and Hannah nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I guess it would appear so sometimes," Amos frowned, "Well, I'm awful sorry about that. But don't you worry about his intentions. He may be a dyke sometimes but he's very respectable."

"You tell that to his flavor from last year, Marilyn," Lily raised an eyebrow. "I don't want to be her. I don't want to be one of those girls. Just another one of his statistics."

"Oh Lils, you're special," Amos flashed her a wonderful smile, "James doesn't know anything about that. Nor do any of the other marauders for that reason."

"Only you can say yes Lily," said Amy.

"He'll leave me alone soon?" Lily looked hopeful, already glad that James was no longer staring at her.

"You can count on it," Amos nodded, "He'll find another girl to be his flavor. And you'll still be special."

Lily liked that. It made her feel more comfortable about James' affections. They were fleeting, meaningless. He couldn't harm her _that_ way unless she let him. She was special.

* * *

Disclaimer: Sorry, I forgot this last time. You know the drill: not mine.

Thanks to My Reviewers: Mara V. and xo-MidnightSun-ox! You guys rock!


	3. Tried and Tested

**Lying to Myself**

Chapter 3: Tried and Tested

_Authors Note_: My favorite line so far is in this first section-said by Remus. Oh Remus! He sure does know a thing or two about comedic timing! I meant for this to be half drama but I think I like cracking jokes more often. Oh well. I might update slower now. Sorry.

* * *

James watched Lily Evans across the table. She was very beautiful this year.

Her hair was darker than usual and summer had given her a nice tan all over. She was petite, delicate. Her eyes were like the sea and the grass all at once. The corners of her glossy lips were entrancing.

She was sexy.

He wanted her. He knew from the moment she'd passed with her friends that he wanted to kiss those glossy lips and run his hands through that auburn hair.

The other girls had been easy. He'd just smiled and suggested they get to know each other a little better. There was Catherine, Marilyn, Jane, Katie, Amy, Laura and well, quite a few others whose names he couldn't quite remember. Not to mention spontaneous make-out sessions with several other girls. Evans, Moore, Finnigan, and Burns were pretty hot girls. It was only natural that James should find himself attracted to Evans. And he _knew_ that he was the most eligible bachelor at Hogwarts. All he had to do was figure out who he wanted and she was suddenly his for the taking.

Right now, he wanted Lily.

But for some reason, she was rejecting his affections. He'd tried the charm, the winks, the flowers, the grins. Was she playing hard to get?

"Oy Jamesy!" A hand slapped James on the shoulder and he snapped back round to the conversation taking place at the table.

James scowled,

"What!"

"You lost in another world?" Remus asked.

"Or lost in _someone?"_ Sirius grinned, leering right at the group of girls Lily was situated in.

"Both," James replied, a little dully.

"Would she happen to have dark red hair?" Sirius teased.

James managed to grin wide,

"That sounds about right."

"Haven't you asked her yet? Get on with it already!"

"I have!" James frowned, surprised to hear himself admit a first defeat. He thought his charm would have won her over like all the other girls. Why was she different? What was wrong with him this year?

"Eh?" Sirius frowned.

"Why are you so upset then?" Remus asked curiously.

"_Why_ aren't you off snogging somewhere!" Sirius asked incredulously.

"She….she….er, that is---" he cut himself off, turning white and frowning.

"Oh no. He's thinking!" Remus' eyes widened.

"He's hyperventilating!" Sirius panicked, grabbing him by the shoulders. "James! James!"

"Sod off!" James pushed him away, "I'm fine."

"Right. So Evans?"

"Um yeah. That." He frowned. The words came out of his mouth as if he were hearing them for the first time. It was a long moment. A moment that seemed to make time stand still. He was watching himself blurt out the words. He was surprised they could form. "She…..she-"

"Moving past she?" Remus asked carefully.

"…didn't say yes." James frowned.

Sirius stopped, clearly shocked, but also….curious? Remus, on the other hand, just laughed. Peter look confused, like usual.

"What the hell is so funny?" James looked irritated.

"You," he choked out. James waited patiently for him to stop laughing so he could continue. He hoped he would continue to explain himself or James'd have to sock him.

"You've finally met a girl that won't fall for you immediately and you're _surprised?_"

"Well-YEAH! I thought every girl in this school was in love with me." James threw up his arms. He thrust his fork into some pork chops and stuffed them in his mouth. Poor pork chops.

"I guess it would appear so," said Remus, "Your fan club does nothing for your ego."

"What ego?" James looked perturbed.

"I can't believe she didn't start snogging you immediately," Sirius still reeled in shock, "You're _James Potter!_"

"I know!" James spluttered.

Remus rolled his eyes at this and decided it was no use arguing against pride.

"Maybe there's something wrong with her," Sirius suggested, "Maybe she can't see very well."

"Maybe she's deaf," Peter suggested, "And blind."

"I just said that twirp."

"I doubt it," Remus looked over, "She seems just fine to me."

"There's always Moore. Or Boggs!" Sirius suggested.

"Hey!" Remus snapped, "I called her first."

"Which one?" Sirius taunted.

"No, I don't think so," James thought curiously.

"No, what? Do you like reds then? Cause Lorna knows---"

"No, I mean no, I don't want another girl. I still want Lily. She's hot! I mean, LOOK at her!"

"Dude. She said no," Sirius pointed out firmly yet somewhat sympathetically, "If you stop now and forget it ever happened, you'll be able to ----"

"No," James answered quickly and stubbornly, eying the redhead. "I want Lily. I'm going to have her. She's just playing hard to get."

"All right. Give it a week. But if she doesn't give in by then, just call her defective and move on," Sirius shrugged, wiping his mouth with his sleeve.

"A week…." James repeated to himself, struggling within to organize his feelings, something he'd never had to do before for a girl. It was….different.

* * *

Lily had her first prefect meeting that night. She wasn't too thrilled about the additional work load but she felt very privileged to have the job and she was sure it would look good on her post-Hogwarts resume. She and Molly were the Gryffindor girl representatives so they left dinner early to find the room, located obscurely near the library.

As they passed the Marauders, Lily felt her head turning, only to meet James' curious hazel eyes. Her head snapped forward quickly, intensely focusing on the doors ahead.

She and Molly passed through the halls quickly. Molly was all business sometimes, but she was good-hearted and she liked to know exactly what she was doing.

"Arthur told me this was his second year as a prefect," Molly glanced quickly over at Lily.

"That's great!" Lily's face lit up, "We'll know someone when we get there."

"Do you think we're too early?" Molly stopped quickly, "I mean, I'm excited to get there, but I don't want to be the first one there. Let's slow our step a little bit."

So they slowed to a leisurely walk.

"Do you know where this is?" Lily asked. She was in a part of the castle she'd never been before. There were doors on either side of her and corridors as far as the eye could see.

"Of course I do," Molly stated.

"Good."

"Er—at least, I think I do."

"What?" Lily stopped cold, "Molls-what if we never get there because we get lost?"

"That would be tragic!" Molly whispered very seriously.

Lily had to laugh.

"What?" Molly asked quickly, innocently, "Lils-stop laughing at me! That's mean!"

"I'm sorry," Lily stopped quickly.

Molly gave a weak smile, slightly disappointed,

"Yeah. I guess we're being a little dumb. It won't matter if we miss one meeting, right?"

"No, but we ought to at least try," Lily looked determined, "Let's go….this way." She pointed to her left.

"Oh, don't go that way," a voice echoed through the hall.

"Why not?" Lily turned around. Molly furrowed her eyebrows,

"I didn't say that."

Lily spun around and saw Remus several paces behind them. As he neared them, he gestured forward,

"Keep going. We're almost there."

"Remus." Lily didn't know what else to say. Molly saw her friend freeze and interrupted quickly and briskly,

"Are you the Gryffindor boy for the 5th years? Oh, I thought you would be!"

"Really?" Remus looked intrigued as he took step with them down the hall. He seemed not to notice Lily's fright. After all, the red-haired beauty was often coolly collective of her self. "Why's that?"

"Because you're so smart." Lily seemed to have collected her calm.

"Oh, you're too kind," Remus slightly blushed.

"So who is the other Gryffindor prefect?" Molly asked curiously.

They had arrived at the door. It was much more noticeable. It was the only one open with a bright white light. It glared as if neon from the outside, but upon opening the door, there didn't seem to be any sign of any light source. But it was slightly lighter inside than out in the halls.

"Er, -James," Remus said, taking two empty seats next to Arthur Weasley.

"James!" Lily stopped. Molly's eyes had also widened, but she had a hint of a grin on her face. Lily wanted to pull it off her face right then and there. "What!" she challenged.

"Nothing!" Molly spluttered, "I was looking at Arthur. Seriously! Oh look! There's Amos! He must be Ravenclaws prefect. Of course it'd be him. Go take a seat next to him while I go talk real quick to Arthur, kay?"

"Don't be long," Lily warned, turning away.

Sure enough, there were two seats in front of Amos, saved for the two of them.

"Hi Lily! How are you?" Amos boomed, flashing a great grin.

"Good," Lily grinned, sitting down diagonal from him.

"Yes, yes. Are we all here?" McGonagall's voice roared from the front of the classroom, "Settle down now and find a seat so we can begin!"

Lily turned away from Amos to look at McGonagall but as her head swept the room, she saw James walk in. He paused at first upon seeing Lily, but then, in that cocky confident aura of his, strode into the room. He moved over to Remus. Remus leaned over, said a few words to James. Then, to Lily's horror, James spun around and started walking _right toward her!_ Lily froze. Should she yell at Molly to get her butt over here? Should she---?

"Seat saved?" James flashed a smile, gesturing to the empty seat next to her.

Too late.

"Um, yes, actually---"

"Hey thanks!" James plopped down next to her.

"Er…..yeah. Wait no! I just said----!" Lily spluttered.

He ignored her as she went on, carrying a small conversation with Amos, who hardly noticed the awkward transaction.

She looked over, wide-eyed at Molly, who shrugged helplessly at her and took the seat next to Remus, who smiled and started a small conversation with him. Wanting to direct her anger at _something_, she began to scowl and pout at Remus. This was all HIS fault! What had he said to James just now!

It didn't matter though. McGonagall started talking and Lily slowly looked over. James had managed to turn his whole body and was very intent on staring at her. Their gazes met. She glared angrily,

"Stop staring at me! That's annoying."

"I can't help it," he grinned. Then, in that usually cocky arrogance, whispered again,

"Kinda bright in here, isn't it?"

"I'm not going to talk to you," Lily folded her arms and tried to concentrate on what McGonagall was saying. She knew it was no use. She'd just have to get notes from Molly or Amos.

Amos! She whipped around, only to be disappointed that he was diligently taking notes and whispering in between to the blonde seated next to him. Completely oblivious. What about the night before! Did her words now mean nothing! Or maybe it was all a conspiracy to force her in _his_ presence.

She turned back to James, who grinned and whispered once more excitedly,

"Kind hard to take your eyes off me, eh?"

Lily let out a little "pffh" and snapped back to McGonagall. But she would not let him get the last word.

She turned back one last time to spit out angrily,

"I don't want your affections. Stay away from me. Stop bugging me."

As she turned back, she heard James say,

"Ouch. That hurt."

"Good," She replied quickly.

"Ah! I thought you weren't talking to me. Your plan hasn't worked very well. Maybe you should rethink your commitment."

"Stop it!" She hissed, turning back to him, "You're attracting attention to yourself."

"About time."

"Is there no comment you can take seriously?"

"Only what I want to hear."

"Well, that figures."

"What does that mean?" For the first time that night, he sounded a little more serious than joking.

She refused to answer, crossing her arms in front of her chest, and moving her chair up a little bit. The more she tried to concentrate on staring forward, however, the more she wanted to look back. Darn physics laws!

As the lecture ended on their new duties, Lily jumped up quickly, but a hand reached out and grasped her arm, preventing her from going further.

"What!" She spun around nastily.

"Lily!"

Oh no. It was Amos. He looked surprised and a little concerned,

"Are you all right? I didn't think McGonagall was such a powerful orator."

"Oh! No, Amos. I'm sorry—I thought you were James."

"Well----chill. He's not going to bite you or anything."

"Well, he annoys me," Lily responded quickly. "And you didn't see any of it."

"I heard your conversation though," Amos frowned. "You're awful jumpy lately, y'know? What's there to be nervous about?"

"I----I don't know. I just think it's James. Everything about him makes me nervous and jumpy. I don't like it."

"Really? Well, that makes sense. Is it the way you feel about him that makes you nervous and jumpy?"

"What? I don't know. I guess," Lily frowned.

"Well, hey, there's refreshments next door. Let's go find Molly and Arthur."

"Okay, sounds good," Lily followed him. It was as she exited the doorway that she turned around. She'd forgotten all about James. Where had he gone? Wait. _Why do I even care? _

And with that, she thrust herself into the next room, happy to see Molly and Arthur in a corner, having some hot chocolate and crisps.

* * *

"Frustrated?" Remus asked James as they walked back to the common room. They'd escaped the crowd. But not before snatching an entire bag of crisps. James was almost proud of how fast they'd been able to do it. He almost found it ironic that the meeting'd been for prefects and here they were, already breaking the law. What in the world had Dumbledore been thinking? Assigning him to be a prefect?

Only one thing could be seen from this besides the free access to halls and food after hours and that was Lily Evans.

"Why would I be frustrated?" James asked, looking at him.

"I was watching, you know. It didn't look like you were exactly scoring brownie points with Lily. You were right: she really doesn't like you."

"Oh shut up," James snapped, surprised at his own bitterness.

Remus stopped, shocked.

"Sorry Moony," James turned around quickly, "I---guess I just need a few moments to think. I need to come up with a plan. I know she seems like she hates me, but it's just a front. I could see it tonight."

"How's that?" Remus asked, curious, walking again with James.

"She kept turning to look at me. She's nervous and jumpy. For why, I don't know. But maybe I just need to keep getting under her skin to start cracking her."

"James, she's not an egg," Remus pointed out.

"I know. Remus—" James suddenly became very intense as he grabbed Remus by the shoulders, "I'm actually _excited!_"

"Huh?" Remus asked, both confused and scared.

"I've never met such a _fierce_ girl so intent on _hating_ me. I've never, ever, had to chase after a girl on my own. It just makes all my other flings so…..meaningless in comparison. They were just so easy to obtain. With Evans….I have to _fight."_

Remus probably stopped listening after James first started rambling on, but it didn't matter because James was now lost in his own determined thoughts.

He'd never felt so thrilled in all his life. Lily was a huge challenge. She required him to think and act carefully.

He decided right then that he liked challenges. Very much. And he was going to win her over in the end.

* * *

Disclaimer: Not mine. yadayada. All hail Joanne. Blessed women, blessed brain.

Hey! THANKS to my reviewers from last chappie (you guys are my fuel!): Fairy Love, cosmopolitan, Sapphire-Draco-Ice, Phillexican, An angel on ice and opalshine (Is this slang for moonshine? Are you drinking on the job? Shame. Haha. j/k.) You all rock!


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